A querent asked whether her child would recover from pneumonia without having to be hospitalized. Since the hour ruler was Mars, the question was radical. Interestingly, the hour/ascendant ruler posited exactly on the cusp of the son’s 6th (illness/hospital) accurately reflected her worry, especially if we also note that Mars is in contra-antiscia with Saturn in the 12th.

The son’s significator is Jupiter in Taurus, which fits perfectly as he naturally rules pneumonia. He’s unafflicted by the malefics but as his nature is hot/moist and Taurus is cold/dry, it’s clear he’s not very comfortable there. The culprit should be Jupiter’s ruler, Venus since she also rules the part of illness on the descendant (ASC + MA – SA /r).

Finding her in the second sign from her domicile (throat/neck), afflicted by a close separating conjunction to the south node and in a close separating square to Mars, I told her that the pneumonia was probably the consequence of a cold/flu afflicting his throat which wasn’t properly taken care of so it developed into something worse (the querent confirmed this). The sign of Gemini, where Venus and the south node are, signifies the boy’s lungs; its ruler Mercury (which is also the ruler of the derived 6th and the dispositor of Mars) lands in the 5th in Pisces (detriment/fall), afflicting his well-being/health.The Moon’s separation (by opposition) from Venus as the lady of the lot of illness was another important indicator she was at the root of the problem.

Jupiter was joined to no planet/none was being joined to it so the weight of testimony fell primarily on the Moon in Sagittarius. It was joined to the Sun in its kingdom by a trine aspect which was an excellent indicator of betterment because the Sun is a natural ruler of vitality

Strong reception [the greatest generosity] more often comes to be from the Sun to the Moon, because he receives her from all the signs for the reason that her light is from him. If however her conjuction with him were from a sign in which he himself had dignity, there will be two receptions: namely reception of nature and reception of sign.

Even all of the prosperous stars are generous between themselves , since their natures are similar.

And there’s another kind of reception: when some one of the planets occupies the trigon of the other, or the hexagon together with itAbu Ma’shar, Great Introduction

Not only does the Sun have dignity of triplicity in Sagittarius, but this sign also belongs to the solar half of the zodiac where it enjoys the authority equivalent to a bound as well. The Moon is received by triplicity/term! And both lights are natural benfics.

And the half of the circle which is from the beginning of Leo up to the end of Capricorn is called the “greatest half”, and it is the Sun’s half: because the Sun has sovereignty in this whole half just like the planets do in their own bounds Al Qabisi, Introduction to the Science of Astrology

However, I didn’t like the Sun committing disposition to the out of sect, retrograde Saturn in the 12th/via combusta by opposition without reception, making him the final receiver of the Moon’s disposition and the indicator of the outcome of the matter (“the author of the question”). In addition, Mars opposes the 5th while Saturn besieges it as well as the ruler of the 5th by sign. I told the querent that the initial betterment is likely to make a turn for the worse eventually, necessitating hospitalization after all.

In her feedback some two weeks later, the querent told me her son was doing well, having underwent a thorough medical check. Luckily, he didn’t have to be hospitalized. A quick initial recovery was shown by the Sun’s position in a cardinal sign of short ascension and by its swift motion (as opposed to the motion of the superiors). The Moon itself was also very fast.

Nevertheless, I was bewildered as to where Saturn’s influence ‘disappeared’. Was Masha’allah’s horary method wrong this time?

Exactly five months later, the querent contacted me again to inform me that her son would have to undergo surgery of the third tonsil – it was enlarged due to the heavy pneumonia. Saturn finally revealed himself, and I realized (again!) Masha’allah’s method functioned splendidly.

Remarkably, the boy underwent surgery on the day the transiting Sun was exactly on Saturn’s degree in the chart of the question. It “had” to come to this because Saturn as ‘the author of the question’ was in contra-antiscia of Mars (in the boy’s 6th), the natural ruler of cutting/surgery .

The Sun/Saturn opposition perfected in a bit less than five and a half degrees, which corresponds exactly to the time the querent informed me about the date of the surgery, some two weeks later. But why did the whole process take more than five (actually,very close to six) months?

Most probably because Saturn is the slowest moving planet, he’s cadent in the 12th and Libra is a sign of long ascension. Interestingly, on the day of the surgery, transiting Mercury (one of the natural significators of children) was exactly on the ascendant, coming from the 5th which signifies children as well.

3 Responses to Masha’allah’s Right – Again!

I’m glad there are others who find Masha’allah’s technique useful. I notice you have the Dodekatemoiria displayed on the outside of your chart there, is this just the habit of having them there or do you integrate them into your horary readings? I am experimenting with this very thing, so it is of great interest to me.

The way I see it, Masha’allah’s teaching represents the foundation of horary technique and I’ve found it very accurate time and time again. No wonder his principles can be found in all the later horary authorities, all the way to Lilly.

As for the twelfth-parts, I always pay attention to them in horary, especially when it comes to the ascendant degree, because I’ve found it consistently and precisely “betraying” the real focus of the querent’s thoughts (The Search of the Heart). Here the twelfth-part of the ascendant is located in Gemini, which is the radical 8th (querent’s fear/worry) regarding the son’s lungs inflammation (derived 4th). The anxiety is also nicely shown by Saturn’s exact trine to it from the 12th; he’s also its bound ruler. The domicile ruler of the twelfth-part is Mercury and it is posited in the 5th, which signifies the child inquired about.

A description perfectly matching the situation, adding to the radicality, i.e reliability of the chart.